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Where does the blame lie for Winnipeg's woeful offence through three games, and more specifically for its performance on Saturday night against a vulnerable Tiger-Cats defence?

Is it offensive co-ordinator Gary Crowton, who went away from giving running back Chad Simpson the ball during the second half of the 25-20 loss?

Is it quarterback Buck Pierce, who in the third quarter couldn't find a receiver to save his life?

Is it the offensive line, which was on the field for six sacks surrendered?

Is it the receivers, who hauled in only 186 yards worth of passes?

Is it the running backs, who had trouble blocking Hamilton's extra blitzer on a couple of occasions?

Is it head coach Tim Burke, who didn't tell Crowton to run the ball more and probably should have thrown Justin Goltz in for a series or two for a change of pace?

If you answered all of the above, you'd be correct. That is both troubling and promising at the same time.

The positive, you see, is that it's early. It's only three games. Defences are well ahead of offences across the league -- except in Saskatchewan -- so there is still plenty of time for Crowton's crew to get it going.

The other bright spot is there were bright spots on Saturday night at the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium. Simpson rushed for 116 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown romp in the second quarter. Pierce's 30-yard pump fake to Jade Etienne that set up Goltz's touchdown run was a thing of beauty. Pierce was 10-for-14 in the first half.

That was the good news.

The bad news is there were way more negatives than positives, as we mentioned in the first few paragraphs. The two main culprits are Crowton and Pierce, the former for going away from the run and the latter for missing plenty of passes in the second half.

Simpson said all the right things afterwards, but it was obvious he was wondering why the rock didn't come his way more. So what if they were stacking the box? An offensive co-ordinator should know how to beat it.

As for Pierce, we've said from the beginning of the season that he not only needs to stay healthy, but he needs to be better if this team is going to make the playoffs. That is not happening yet. He has completed 53 of 91 passes for 701 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions this season.

It's not good enough. On Saturday night, when he was overthrowing receivers left and right in the third quarter, it appeared he was trying to avoid interceptions. The Bombers forked it over 10 times in the first two games, and his passes on Saturday were so far off the mark that no one was going to catch them.

"We're not being consistent," Burke said. "I remember the primary receiver on a route got knocked down, so Buck's sitting there looking for him to come open and he can't even find him. Those are the kind of things that are frustrating."

Also, Crowton's new and improved offence that includes better protection and quick releases is doing nothing of the sort. Pierce has been sacked 14 times, and that is everyone's fault.

"We did some great things in the first half," Pierce said. "We did some good things in the second half, but not consistently enough. And that's the bottom line. We have to play better for four quarters."

Right guard Steve Morley, who played his 100th CFL game on Saturday, said the offence is already under "a lot" of pressure to get it going. Naturally, as an offensive lineman, he wants to see Simpson get the ball, and it looks like No. 5 is this team's best chance to start producing more points.

"There were some plays, like when Chad broke that long touchdown run," Morley said. "I don't want to make assumptions, but there's signs of life there. Chad's a great running back. He made some big plays. So if you look at the positive, Chad played a great game.